


ah, corn nuts

by HaveYouSeenATimeLord



Series: great expectations college au [1]
Category: Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Asexual Character, Bisexual Character, Demisexuality, Fluff, Multi, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-07
Updated: 2014-09-07
Packaged: 2018-02-16 10:54:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2267073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HaveYouSeenATimeLord/pseuds/HaveYouSeenATimeLord
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pip gets his hand stuck in a vending machine and a stranger comes to help</p>
            </blockquote>





	ah, corn nuts

**Author's Note:**

> this is probably the most badly written i've put on the internet.
> 
> based on this tumblr post: http://textsfromtitanfood.tumblr.com/post/96672784247/consider-the-following-aus-we-wore-matching

It wasn’t Estella’s fault, not exactly. It’s just that she told Pip to go get her some corn nuts and Bentley had glared at him so ferociously that he didn’t dare refuse. Estella had reprimanded her boyfriend, although not before Pip had nervously skittered off the couch and down the hall to the closest vending machine.

It wasn’t Estella’s fault, but here he was, fifteen minutes later, with his hand stuck in the bottom slot of the vending machine. Pip knew that if the corn nuts had just fallen he wouldn’t have this problem. He was bent at an awkward angle, sort of lying on the ground and reaching up. He pushed and pulled his trying to loosen it. Joe had always told Pip not to shake a vending machine. Well, he didn’t, and look what trouble he was in now. He tugged again before sinking to the ground.

A snort sounded from behind him and Pip craned his next over his shoulder to see what it was. Standing there was a handsime man. Pip frowned at him. “And what do you find so funny, then?”

The man attempted to school his face into a neutral expression. His blonde hair fell into his face. “Ah, nothing. Nothing at all.” As he said this, he grinned a bit, before hiding it. Pip frowned harder and began to pull again. The man walked closer. “Do you need any help? It looks like you might.”

Pip mustered up the toughest glare he had, which was not very tough. “Well, you’re not helping very much by just standing there.”

The blonde man kneeled next to Pip. “Is your arm chafing?”

Pip couldn’t hold his glare and started laughing. “Chafing? I hardly think that’s the worst of my problems!” He tugged his arm again for emphasis. The other man scrunched his eyebrows together for a moment, then grasped Pip’s arm and also began to tug. “You know, I don’t really think this is working.”

“Neither do I.” He thought for a moment. “Hold on just one minute.” He rose and jogged down the hall. Pip tried to make himself comfortable on the floor and busied himself with thoughts of how hard it would be to just cut his arm out of the vending machine. If Estella ever found out he would never hear the end of it. She would end up snapchatting it to everyone if she found him like this. Luckily, he didn’t have to worry, because the blonde guy was coming back down the hall again, carrying a giant container of Vaseline. He kneeled down next to Pip and blushed. “I figured if it works on rings it might work here.” He opened the container and picked some up in his hands. He hesitated.

Pip looked at him. “Just rub the Vaseline on. I’d do anything at this point to get my arm out of here.”

The other man turned a bit pinker. “Yes, ‘course you would.” He looked sideways at Pip as he began to lather his arm in Vaseline. An awkward silence followed, only broken by the sticky sound of the Vaseline. The man coughed.

“Why do you have such a large container of that?”

The man smiled slightly. “My grandmother gave it to me, telling me about how cold it was here and how my nose would get dry. Completely ridiculous. But I’m not one to refuse a gift.”

When Pip’s arm was covered, they began to pull again. Slowly, Pip’s arm began to emerge from the slot. When it came all the way out, Pip collapsed on the floor in relief.

The man stood awkwardly in the hall. “Er, I should be heading off.”

Pip sat up quickly. “You don’t have to go so fast!” The man looked startled. “If it wasn’t for you they would’ve had to cut my arm off. At least tell me your name?”

“Oh, uh, Herbert Pocket.” The blonde made to shake Pip’s hand but stopped halfway short. “You’re still covered in Vaseline.”

Pip turned a bit pink. “Yeah, I should probably go wash that off.” He turned to go. “Oh! I’m Pip, by the way.”

Herbert scrunched his nose. “What kind of a name is Pip?”

“Mine, of course. It’s actually Philip Pirrip, but I find that a bit stressful to say.”

“Quite right.” They stood there awkwardly for a while. “Maybe I’ll, uh, see you again sometime?”

“That’d be good. Yeah.” Pip nodded. “Hopefully I’ll have use of both of my hands next time.” He looked at the one that was still slippery. Herbert smiled at him.

“I tend to hang around a lot. I’ll probably see you.”

“I hope so.” Pip grinned.

**Author's Note:**

> i'm open for prompts and discussion at dwightfryes.tumblr.com


End file.
